Role of the Transfer-Messenger RNA Pathway _ Trans-Translation _ in Bacterial Physiology

tmRNA (also known as SsrA or 10Sa RNA) is sonamed for its dual nature so that can function like tRNA and mRNA. TmRNA involved in a transtranslation reaction that truly is a kind of translational quality control system. This process contributes to the recycling of stalled translation complexes at the end of an mRNA lacking a stop codon or at an internal mRNA cluster of rare codons in a process termed “ribosome rescue”. This review focuses on the mechanism of ribosome rescue and the role of this unique bifunctional RNA in bacterial physiology. Moreover, recent studies suggest that the tmRNA inactivation may be a useful therapeutic target to increase the sensitivity of pathogenic bacteria against antibiotics so tmRNA pathway could be a useful target for antibiotic development.